VARA Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023

The Regulations create a Dubai-specific licensing perimeter for VA Activities. An entity may not carry out a VA Activity by way of business in the Emirate unless it is authorised and licensed by VARA, acting as an employee for a VARA-licensed employer, or falls within an exempt category. Separate licensing provisions require entities seeking to conduct VA Activities to apply for, obtain and maintain the relevant VARA licence.

Schedule 1 defines the VA Activities covered by the current framework. These include advisory services, broker-dealer services, custody services, exchange services, lending and borrowing services, VA management and investment services, and VA transfer and settlement services. The framework also addresses virtual asset issuance through a dedicated VA Issuance Rulebook.

Entities issuing a virtual asset in the Emirate in the course of business must comply with the VA Issuance Rulebook. The Regulations also prohibit issuance of anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies and VA activities related to them in the Emirate. Part VIII establishes market-offence concepts, including insider dealing, unlawful disclosure and market manipulation, with detailed examples of conduct that may give false or misleading signals about supply, demand or price.

VASPs must comply with UAE federal AML/CFT laws, applicable regulatory requirements, VARA Regulations, rulebooks and directives, including FATF-related requirements incorporated by VARA. VARA’s licensing powers include the ability to grant licences for specified VA Activities and to vary, suspend or revoke a licence in circumstances described by the rulebook.

VARA issued the Regulations on 7 February 2023. The live rulebook lists earlier versions dated 7 February 2023, 5 June 2023, 19 September 2023 and 1 October 2024, followed by the current version. VARA’s May 2025 announcement separately describes updated activity-based rulebooks and a transition period ending with full compliance required by 19 June 2025. No later replacement of the Regulations was identified in the official sources reviewed for this profile.

• Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai.
• Regulations on the Marketing of Virtual Assets and Related Activities 2024.
• VARA activity-specific rulebooks, including custody, exchange, lending and borrowing, and virtual asset issuance rulebooks.
• UAE federal AML/CFT laws and VARA AML/CFT circulars applicable to licensed VASPs.